Page 32 - Sphere No.17 (Sep 2006)

30 SPHERE
It’s not all work
and no play at
sea. When
Wanda finishes
work there is
plenty of time
to enjoy the
delights of the
music room and
the canteen.
“Every time I look out over the blue waters
I smile and think ‘Dad this one is for you!’ ”
THE OCEAN RANGER DISASTER
THE OCEAN RANGER was the Titanic of the off-
shore exploration industry. Operated by Mo-
bil Oil, she was the largest semi-submersible,
oil-drilling platform of the day and because of her size
drilled in areas too dangerous for other rigs. Like the
Titanic, the vessel was considered unsinkable.
On Sunday, 14 February 1982, a winter storm with
100 mph winds and 60 foot swells developed south of
Newfoundland and headed for the Grand Banks where
the Ocean Ranger was drilling 315 kilometres southeast
of St John’s. Around 7 pm, with seas now over 100 feet
high, the crew informed the Mobil Oil shore base that
the main deck had been hit by a huge wave.
Then another giant wave crashed over the rig, smash-
ing through the ballast control room port hole.Water
rushed in, shorted the control panel, causing the rig to
list to about 10 degrees.
The crew then attempted to manually start the pumps
to right the rig but there were no manuals on board
explaining how the ballast control system worked.
Knowledge had been passed from one crew rotation
to the next by word of mouth. Instead of emptying the
ballast tank on the side where the rig was listing, the
men pumped in more water, increasing the list to about
15 degrees.
Their fate was sealed. The Ocean Ranger radioed
it was abandoning ship. Rescue attempts by helicop-
ter and the attending supply ship, Seaforth Highlander,
were hampered by the storm and cold water and a
lifeboat capsised when desperate crew members
tried to climb a rescue line thrown to them from the
supply ship.
The Seaforth Highlander then launched its own large
inflatable life raft, but it floated away just out of reach of
the drowning men. At 3.38 am on 15 February, the rig
capsised and sank to the floor of the Grand Banks. All
84 hands aboard the Ocean Ranger perished.
A Canadian Royal Commission spent two years look-
ing into the disaster and its recommendations had a
major impact on design, construction and safety proce-
dures for the offshore oil and gas industry.